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wildlife and their habitats, particularly during project planning, infrastructure route selection and in doing due diligence for acquisitions and divestitures," Veldman said.
• Brown said conservation groups and land trusts have expressed interest in the data to help make decisions about prioritizing protection of wildlife or purchasing property most valuable to their preservation mission.
• California, Montana, Washington, Wyoming and Kansas already are utilizing their own state databases. Nevada plans to roll out its new maps Thursday in concert with the regional package, with New Mexico and Oregon to follow later this month.
• The other states hope to complete theirs in the months ahead -- Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Utah.
• "Mining companies like to say, 'The gold is where the gold is, that's where we need to go,'" said Chet Van Dellen, GIS coordinator for Nevada's Department of Wildlife. "We like to say the animals are where the animals are."
• The "crucial habitat" is not to be confused with critical habitat, a legal term when it comes to protecting wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.
• Developers and U.S. regulators still must complete environmental assessments as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. But the habitat maps themselves carry no regulatory authority, and developers will be free to pursue projects regardless of what shows up in the path of their projects, although sometimes with a healthy price tag.
• "It really is a pro-development tool," Van Dellen said. "We're just letting you know if that's the piece of ground you are going to commit to, you might expect a bumpier ride than a smoother ride. If you go this way, you are going to cross all this important stuff, but if you go this way, you are not."
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• BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) -- Megan Waytashek and Steph Paluch scored 18 points apiece as South Dakota State defeated No. 12 Penn State 83-79 despite squandering a 20-point halftime lead Wednesday night.
• The Jackrabbits (7-4) had a 23-point lead when Paluch opened the second half with a 3 and were up 21 with 14:39 left when a Dara Tayler three-point play started a 10-0 for Penn State. The lead was still in double figures at the 5-minute mark before the Nittany Lions stormed back.
• Ariel Edwards, who scored 5 straight points to pull Penn State within 78-77 with 1:19, finished with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks, 4 steals and 3 assists. Maggie Lucas added 20 and Taylor had a career-high 19.
• Mariah Clarin had 13 points for SDSU and helped the Jackrabbits, now 3-13 vs.

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